1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to vault security. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for ensuring authorized access to vault resources.
2. Background
Efficient utilization of vault space and controlling access such that only authorized users have access to resources in the vault, such as safety deposit boxes, represents an ongoing challenge for banks. This challenge has been exacerbated by bank mergers and consolidations which have resulted in the requirement that banks combine safety deposit boxes from two or more prior entities into a single system. As banks merge, it becomes essential to be able to eliminate under utilized resources to permit resources from the merging entities to be combined within the vault.
Historically, banks have used a signature card system as the sole method for tracking and verifying access to safety deposit boxes. Under this system, a user presents their identification to a teller and signs a card to be granted access. The signed card is then retained as proof of access. While the teller is nominally supposed to compare the signatures on the identification card with that the user signs concurrently, tellers by and large are not handwriting experts nor are they necessarily qualified to identify a fraudulent identification card.
Although it has always been problematic to control access to, for example, safety deposit boxes, as banks have moved away from the small, local bank where most clients were known to the bank staff to greater anonymity, the traditional control method described above in many cases fail to provide sufficient access control. Moreover, this paper record has made producing the annual audit of vault access error-prone and labor-intensive. A better system of vault management is desirable.